Instead, I drifted closer.
“Listen, the asshole didn’t hurt me. No foul done, let’s just get out of here before you”—I looked at the five bodyguards surrounding the man who looked about ready to piss himself—“and your men end up in an Albanian prison right alongside me. That’snoton my bucket list.”
One corner of his mouth tipped up. “Don’t worry, we’re not going to any prison.”
“But your gun,” I hissed.
“I’m licensed to carry.”
I rolled my eyes. “But not to shoot people. Come on, leave the idiot to drown in alcohol?—”
“And harass another woman?” he gritted. “He yanked you by your hair and insulted you. Nobody gets away with that.”
I shouldn’t feel flattered, yet I did. Jonathan had never done something like this. When his ex spewed insults at me, he just let it go, and it bothered me. For fuck’s sake, I should have been worth more to my boyfriend than peace with his ex.
“I appreciate that,” I whispered. “More than you’ll ever know. But maybe just put the gun away and punch him instead?”
“Wait for me outside,zemër,” he instructed.Zemer?The freaking silver fox forgot my name. When I didn’t move, Kian gritted, “Sophie, wait for me outside.”
Considering the current circumstance, I shouldn’t have been so happy to hear him remember my name.
“You can’t tell me what to do,” I muttered under my breath.
“It’s nothing unusual… since you’re mywifeand all,” he drawled.
He returned his attention to the scene while I took him in properly: the high, intelligent forehead; thick, silver-peppered hair that looked impossibly soft; a straight nose; sharp cheekbones that could probably cut glass. And then his mouth. That mouth—with its full lower lip that made my pulse stutter.
Goose bumps rose on my arms and the heaviness in my stomach intensified.
I’d been attracted to men before, loved them, dated them, but this feeling—whatever it was—felt brand-new.
Then I did something I’d never done before.
I rose onto my toes, my fingers clenching the front of his pristine suit, and tugged him toward me. The fabric was cool under my palms, but the heat radiating from his body burned through it. He must have been caught off guard because he lowered his head, and it was just enough for me to close the distance and press my lips against his.
For a heartbeat, he was still—solid as stone.
Then he kissed me back.
One large hand slid to the back of my neck, anchoring me against him, while the other—the one still gripping the gun—curved aroundmy hip, the cold metal pressing through the soft fabric of my summer dress.
It should have brought me to my senses, but instead, I pressed myself against his body, my pulse throbbing between my thighs.
He tilted his head, deepening the kiss. The world around us blurred into nothing—just the heat of his lips, the slight rasp of his breathing, and the steady, grounding strength that held me upright. I could feel the brush of his jaw against mine, the delicious scrape of stubble.
My fingers dug into his jacket, trying to memorize the solid weight of him, the way he was both restraint and release. His lips parted against mine and I followed, every movement sending shivers down my spine.
He tilted my head gently to explore deeper, and the world beyond this man fell away. The roar of my own pulse filled my ears. My mind went blank.
And I lost myself in the best kiss of my life.
Chapter 10
Kian
She tasted like sunlight, like warmth captured in a fleeting moment, and beneath it, the subtle tang of her shampoo: citrus mingling with something sweet, intoxicating, a scent that rooted me to her. My head spun, my thoughts scattering like leaves in a storm.
I should pull back.
